Digging Begins In May For More Manson Victims at the Barker Ranch

For years there has been questions concerning addition deaths associated with Charles Manson, the bodies of which have been rumored to be buried at the Death Valley Ranch where Manson and his followers lived. Digging for those bodies begins in May.

Charles Manson was an unemployed ex-convicted that was charged and found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate-LaBianca murders, which members of his group carried out at his instruction.

The Manson "family" as they have been called, committed a series of murders under the direction of Charles Manson, which included the brutal murder of Sharon Tate who was 8 months pregnant at the time.

The purpose of these murders was to kick off what Manson termed "Helter Skelter", which was his attempt at initiating an apocalyptic race war.

After guilty verdicts were returned in 1971 against Manson and members of the Manson Family, rumors continued, to this very day, about more murders having been committed and more bodies being buried at the Barker Ranch, where Manson and his group stayed and where he was ultimately arrested.

On May 20, 2008, excavations are set to begin at areas of the Barker Ranch in Death Valley, where cadaver dogs gave conflicting indications and soil testing was inconclusive for human remains.

According to Inyo County Sheriff, Bill Lutze, in a written statement, the excavation will be conducted, "to either confirm or put to rest speculation that bodies may remain there from the Charles Manson era."

In March authorities had concluded that there was a possibility that there were human remains at the Barker Ranch. The areas in question were identified by dogs and according to Sgt. Paul Dostie of the Mammoth Lakes, California, police department, certain equipment was also used to determine possible remains being located at those sites.

Lutze further stated, "There was no consistent response from the dogs that searched, and no conclusive findings from the soil samplings tested by top experts in the field. Therefore, I believe the only way to determine once and for all whether there are bodies buried at Barker Ranch from the time of the Manson family is to proceed with limited excavation in a very few areas."

He said four methods of testing were used at five sites on the ranch. No site was identified by all four methods as possibly having remains, but positive findings by one method were corroborated by another at some of the sites, the sheriff's department said.

Charles Manson is serving a life sentence at Corcoran State Prison in California and is Ineligible for parole until 2012, although many believe he will never be paroled and never be released from prison. Manson is 73 years old.

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